Socceroos dynamo Riley McGree could start early in Australia's Asian Cup campaign after delighting coach Graham Arnold in an eye-catching international return from injury.
Arnold gambled on selecting Middlesbrough gun McGree in his 26-man squad for January's tournament in Qatar off the back of limited recent club minutes.
McGree last played for Australia against Mexico in October, then missed more than two months of international and club football with a foot injury.
The 25-year-old had made three recent cameos for Boro but came off the bench in the 63rd minute and showed impressive signs in Saturday night's (Sunday AEDT) friendly against Bahrain in Abu Dhabi.
Australia play India on January 13, Syria five days later then Uzbekistan on January 23 in Qatar - and McGree could start as early as the opener.
"Riley McGree was fantastic," Arnold told AAP.
"From what I saw tonight, I think he'd be ready for the 90 minutes - or at least 70 minutes.
"But I think in a little way that injury's freshened him up and he just looked so fast on his feet, so strong and it's great to see him back on the field."
McGree can play as a midfielder or winger and had been in electric form before his injury.
There had been fears he would be unable to feature at all in Qatar, but Arnold is feeling good about backing the South Australian to deliver.
"That's the great thing about my medical staff and sports science team - they're on top of everything all the time," Arnold said.
"People were talking probably back at home 'how can I pick him? It's too big a risk, he hasn't played for ages'.
"Well, we know exactly where he's at. And if that was too big a risk, well then I'm happy with that risk."
Arnold is delighted in his squad's depth after he made six substitutions throughout the match, with McGree, Kye Rowles, Kusini Yengi, Nathaniel Atkinson, Marco Tilio and Aziz Behich all entering the fray.
Young guns Jordy Bos and Sammy Silvera, and former Welsh youth international Gethin Jones all started.
"This was the purpose of what I've tried to do in the last four years - win games but at the same time create depth," he said.
"If you look at the six players I brought on, four years ago we probably wouldn't have had anywhere near that depth.
"I've got headaches. I'm gonna have headaches over the next few weeks around the starting line-ups."
